We had a GRAND time!

We had SO MUCH FUN! It was really really a great idea. I am so glad I went through with it. I am famous for my lousy parties, but hey, this one came off pretty well! A while back sis and I went to scope out good locations for a lunch. The music from street speakers, the tourists, and the time constraints in the restaurants led us to find a "secret" location. We checked out an idea I had, got a bit of an "o.k." from the people we needed to and decided to keep it a secret because, well, it would be more fun that way. (Pirate's like intrigue. It allows us to do more pirate-y things, like pillaging and running amok on deck. Plus it scares the beejeebees outta your guests!)

Chronicler and I met in Riverside, I parked the gramma SUV at Barnes and Noble and off we drove to DownTown Disney. We hauled our overloaded tote bags over our shoulders like pack mules and made our way in. Chronicler set up her table with pretty dishes and flatware, and her fabulous (seriously delicious) lunch while I went out the meeting point to greet the victims, um, guests.

I asked everyone to meet at Sephora, a black and white striped perfumery/make up store at the corner near LibbyLu, a neon pink death by faery princess and glitter heaven store for girls. My down fall up to this point was saying that the meeting point was also across from Build a Bear, which was totally wrong, it was across from a giant ice cream cone, but I digress.

I stood there under the scaffolding and construction (WTHeck????) in all my glory holding a ridiculous little airport sign "SoCAL Bloggers - DownTown Disney Meet and Greet 2008! BLOGGERS!" . Yea. "Hi! I'm S'mee! I'll be your personal dork today!" I was nothing less than a spectacle. Passersby would squint to read the sign and then have a curious look on their faces as if I were some sort of passive protester. I actually caught one gal taking my photo! When she saw me seeing her she quickly directed her camera towards another object and took another shot. One cute little 20something guy asked us if we were all meeting for the first time, he was all excited for us. I kind of wish he blogged; he could have joined us to, but he didn't so too bad for him! After about 20 minutes a security guard came by and told me he "had to read your sign ma'am". After he read it he said "Oh. O.k that's cool." "Yup, I'm meeting folks I don't know...here's your sign!" Evidently I looked like the uni-bomber, only in sandals.

A few minutes later and Chronicler called me to inform me that, she too, in the "secret location" had been approached by security. All's well that ends well, after their conversation, we got 10 points for having a "great idea!" and well wishes for a great get together.


Susan was the first to arrive, then Huckleberry and his family and Hollywood and her girls came in; completing our small but happy group.

At this point I was planning on kidnapping and stealing away all these folks, but hey, I look just like my avatar and frankly, they all put up quite a fight, won and there you go. pfffft! No ransom notes, no plundering, no pirate's life for S'mee!

We headed out for the the "secret" location: the 5th floor outdoor patio of the Grand Californian Hotel, overlooking the pool and parts of California Adventure. It just made more sense to meet there in the quiet redwood patio than down in a restaurant where our time would be monitored, the children uncomfortable, and the visiting become a shouting match above the hubbub and noise of the shoppers. (and if anyone got out of line I could just throw them over board!)

We had a great salad:spinach with bleu cheese, chicken, apples, pecans, bacon and a yummy dressing. Crusty sour dough rolls with Irish butter, a new pomegranate drink that is both healthy and refreshing; and then a fresh (from scratch!) white cake with macerated maraschino cherries, rolled in to golf ball sized bonbons and dunked in the most delicious Sharffenberger's dark chocolate! Holy. Moley. Check out her site for the
recipe!

We have great conversations and a ton of laughs. The only sad part of the day was when Pixie dropped her prized baby blanket (or what was left of it!) over the balcony and onto a third story roof. If she had dropped it just one foot to the left it would have gone directly onto a hotel guest's balcony and perhaps recovered, but alas, it is no more. Maybe it will comfort on of the other fantasy creatures that seem to hang out and about the grounds there. She was quickly soothed and went on to have a fun time stamping and playing with her magic wand.

We had bags of pirate booty with a red and black theme. A small pre-made accordion fold photo album to collect the day's photos in, a couple of fridge magnet photo frames, a jar of fresh Sugar Cookie Body Scrub, a pack of floral or heart themed note/greeting cards and a few chocolates. Chronicler gave each guest a vinyl "SoCAL Blogger" to place on our cars with a personality specific icon to boot! She also made a glass daisy pendant for Pixie! Susan gave each guest a c.d. compilation of hand picked songs with a blogger theme! I LOVE home made compilations, so this made my day!

The kids in the group got a small tote bag full of girly goodies to help entertain them while Mommy chatted and was otherwise occupado.

Everyone went home happy, full and laughed out! So there you have it! Keep an eye on the horizon, we just may have to do this again!